| API | An Application Programming Interface, or API, is a set of software instructions and standards that allows machine to machine communication—like when a website uses a widget to share a link on Twitter or Facebook |
| Data | A value or set of values representing a specific concept or concepts. Data become "information" when analyzed and possibly combined with other data in order to extract meaning and to provide context. The meaning of data can vary depending on its context. |
| Metadata | Metadata describes a number of characteristics or attributes of data; that is, "data that describes data". (ISO 11179-3). For any particular datum, the metadata may describe how the datum is represented, ranges of acceptable values, its label, and its relationship to other data. Metadata also may provide other relevant information, such as the responsible steward, associated laws and regulations, and the access management policy. The metadata for structured data objects describes the structure, data elements, interrelationships, and other characteristics of information, including its creation, disposition, access and handling controls, formats, content, and context, as well as related audit trails. |
| Taxonomy | Taxonomy is the practice and science of classification. Originally taxonomy referred only to the classifying of organisms or a particular classification of organisms. In a wider, more general sense, it may refer to a classification of things or concepts, as well as to the principles underlying such a classification. |
| XML | XML (Extensible Markup Language) is a general-purpose specification for creating custom markup languages. It is classified as an extensible language, because it allows the user to define the mark-up elements. XML’s purpose is to aid information systems in sharing structured data especially via the Internet, to encode documents, and to serialize data. |